Flora Francis

Background

About Flora Francis

My career began as an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) in Kings County, New York. As an ADA, trying approximately 20 cases to verdict, I learned invaluable trial skills that continue to serve me throughout my career. My next role gave me the opportunity to improve those skills as, among other responsibilities, I worked as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where I used those skills to try several cases in Federal Court. In addition, I honed my investigative skills as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maryland while working with the Food and Drug Administrations'(FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations, investigating generic drug fraud. I began my career as an Attorney Advisor as an Associate Chief Counsel of Biologics at the FDA from there to work as an Attorney Advisor for several Divisions of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). I continued my focus on investigations at DOJ as a member of the FBI's Investigative Law Unit and the OIG, where I also began my career focus on compliance and ethics, conducting internal investigations of the DOJ and serving as Deputy Ethics Agency Official. I had the opportunity to blend these experiences and skills when I joined Microsoft's Legal and Compliance team where I used my skills to help develop the internal investigations program, contributed to the development of the overall compliance program, and conducted numerous significant internal investigations. I continued to improve my investigation and trial skills when joined GE's Oil & Gas Division where, as Senior Litigation Counsel, I managed global legal disputes, including representing GE Oil & Gas in several international arbitrations. I became more focused on compliance and ethics when I moved to the compliance team, serving as Compliance Leader for several Oil & Gas Divisions, also acting as a Legal and Compliance Integration leader where I helped implement GE's legal and compliance program into acquired businesses. Eventually, I took responsibility for managing and implementing the compliance program for GE's North America Region, which included, among other things, managing a third of all compliance investigations, designing and developing training, including Compliance Leadership Training, as well as working with GE Corporate to update and implement the Corporate Gifts and Entertainment Policy and process. My investigative and trial experience, and my compliance and ethics experience, give me a unique and invaluable set of skills and knowledge to offer.